From Thursday 11 to Friday 12 March 2021, 27 Scottish church ministers will be challenging the Scottish government’s decision to criminalise gathered worship for the highest tiers in Scotland in a judicial review.
The move to force churches to close and criminalise gathered worship during during this pandemic is unprecedented in Scotland, where churches have enjoyed long-established freedoms to conduct their own affairs, free from state interference.
‘Closing the churches is disproportionate, unlawful and unconstitutional’
Rev. Nathan Owens, minister of Maxwell Church in Ayrshire, shares his concerns about closing churches during a national pandemic, and explains why he’s decided to challenge the Scottish government.
‘You wouldn’t close the hospitals, but closing churches is just as damaging to society’
Rev. Dr Rupert Hunt-Taylor, minister of Edinburgh North Church, shares why closing the churches by force is so damaging for society – because churches are the places that bring life.
‘It is our human right to be allowed to gather together to worship’
John-William Noble, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Aberdeen, explains the legal impact and implications that the Scottish government’s decision to criminalise gathered worship has had.
‘The church is the only vehicle which takes care of people’s spiritual wellbeing’
Geoffrey de Bruin, Senior Pastor at CRC Edinburgh, explains why he decided to join the legal challenge, and the role of the church during a pandemic.